switching it up

I'm headed over to http://www.pleasesendcandies.com. No more posting over here.

It's not pretty over there. But whatever: I'm making the move now and making it look good later. Making it so this blogspot redirects... all that stuff. Anyway, with the loss of Google Reader (curse you, Google) I figured now was as good a time as any.

britt

Beginning Bar Prep

In the first week of bar prep, we covered an entire semester's worth of evidence, and a semester's worth of torts in two days each.  Then on Monday, Professor Sakai comes to Santa Clara and has the audacity to say to us, "Wasn't that first week nice and slow? Not too much information? Well, beginning next week, things are going to get pretty intense."

I feel like Lucy. But instead of chocolate, it's the hearsay "exceptions,"  the "non-hearsay" and then obviously, the "not hearsay."

britt

Family,

my youngest brother and sister, my mom and dad, and Chris

This weekend my family drove for hundreds of miles across the desert so they could be here to cheer for my 30-second walk across a stage. Since then, I’ve thought a lot about how my family – my parents in particular – always makes me feel like they have all the time in the world for me. It's not just for the big things, but in our day-to-day interactions. Even though they have other stuff to deal with, they never make me feel like their stuff is more important than my stuff.

And being a student, and preparing for the bar, it’s really easy to convince myself that my stuff is THE MOST IMPORTANT. But this weekend, spending time with people who have selflessly given me so much of their precious time, reminded me that I could be better at recognizing and behaving like other people are more important than my stuff. It’s just stuff.

britt

Isaiah,

In the last few weeks I’ve done an enormous amount of reading. We’re talking, this is probably more reading than I’ve ever done in such a short period of time ever. But tax law can get pretty dry, and easily the most beautiful thing I’ve read this month was from Isaiah, in an inscription on the Pulgas Water Temple:

I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people.

britt

Last day of class

I feel many emotions today on this, the last day of my law school classes. But I’ll just say this: for the last three years, law school consumed me like nothing else ever has. And somehow, without me even noticing until yesterday, it’s over.

Just like that.

britt

bolognese

Every night, after Chris tells me stories from his childhood or the day’s news, I make bolognese in my head until I fall asleep. Even though I’ve only actually made this recipe once in real life, I’ve been making it in my head nearly every night since December.

I mentally collect all the ingredients and lay them out on the counter. I grate the onion, the carrots, the celery. After they’re browned, I add the tomato, then beef. When the grape juice is reduced (yeah, I don’t even make-believe cook with make-believe wine), I restock my make-believe counter, and I start grating a new onion.

It’s kind of like counting sheep, but tailored to an over-anxious law student who finds solace in Italian food.

britt

SF Cable Cars

 Paintings by Christopher Clark - the first one is a perfect depiction of how I remember my first several cable car rides. 

My first semester of law school took a pretty serious toll on my complexion, and after a few weeks I had scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist near Union Square. I had to visit once a month for checkups, and then be across the city for my 9:00 am classes. While I don’t miss the acne, or having them steal my blood (to monitor liver function, etc.), I do miss the early-morning cable car. I would arrive just as the sun was rising, and spend ten minutes riding through San Francisco, just me and the cable car conductors. And I don’t care how touristy or slow or kitchy they are, I love them. They remind me of what it felt like to move here, and I feel so unspeakably lucky to be in such a beautiful place.

britt